The last several months have seen a flurry of activity on Dino D-Day and we're finally getting to the point where we feel like we can start unveiling what we're working on.

As you recall, we called the last release a "prototype." Lessons were learned, failures were isolated, progress was made. Based on the general feedback from that release as well as our own feelings about the game we came to a momentous decision at the beginning of the year. We decided to shift the focus of Dino D-Day from singleplayer to multiplayer. Initially, the idea was to release a singleplayer game with multiplayer as an add-on. Instead, we'll be slowly unveiling a multiplayer version of Dino D-Day over the next several weeks.

Just to wet your appetite, here's a screenshot from the game:

We've got three screenshots ready right now but more will be following in the near future. So let me take a minute to answer all of your burning questions about this new version of Dino D-Day.

1) Hey, I like the singleplayer...why do you have to be like everybody else and go multiplayer?
We've found it much better suited to the talents and size of our team at this point in development. But let me go a little further to assuage your fears. Singleplayer/co-op game modes will eventually be included in Dino D-Day...just not at the beginning. Usually, this will take the form of a story-based "episode" whose point of view is one of the characters you play as in the multiplayer game. It'll be fun, story-based gameplay that adds depth to the multiplayer characters. Trust us, it'll be fun when we get there.

2) What's going to happen to the mod you released in November?
That version of Dino D-Day will go the way of the do-do -- er dinosaurs. But don't worry, a lot of elements from it are being rolled into the new game.

3) All right, you win. Tell me about this multiplayer.
It's a class-based, team-oriented multiplayer game. The game will have multiple playable dinosaurs that you can choose to play as. The first ones are: a Velociraptor (a more scientifically accurate one than in Jurassic Park), a Desmatosuchus (not a dinosaur technically, look it up!), and a Dilophosaur. The Velociraptor is a scout class type player with wicked claws and a really fun pounce attack. The Desmatosuchus has a 20mm gun on his back -- sort of a walking tank. The Dilophosaur will be an assault class dinosaur who can charge a control point and make a mess of the place. The dinosaur classes use a mix of first and thirdperson points of view which we find mixes up the gameplay in fun ways.

The Nazis also have human classes with NPC dinosaurs that they "handle." For instance, one Nazi we call the "Falconer." He can dispatch kamikaze pterosaurs to an area target or a specific player. A pterosaur will swoop in and attack whatever target he was given. Other German classes will interact with dinosaurs in cool ways...more on this in later updates.

4) I don't want to PLAY as a dinosaur...I want to KILL Nazi dinosaurs.
I don't blame you, that's what I like to do too. For you, we have a cool cast of Allied characters - each with unique skills and abilities they can use to kill Nazi dinosaurs. First and foremost is Jack Hardgrave who we've promoted to Captain because it works better for our mythology. Then there's Hardgrave's British colleague, fellow paleontologist/warrior Nigel Blithe-Crossley. Joe Spencer, a young GI rarin' to take on Hitler's dinosaur army. Irina Vike, a Latvian peasant girl who's a crack shot with her Mosin-Nagant. Jakob Frank, a German Jew drummed out of the Wehrmacht by Hitler's race laws seeking revenge against the country that rejected him. Camille Brun, a French partisan who watched her beloved homeland trampled by Nazi dinosaurs.

As you can see, Allied players have an international flare. More to come!

5) I'm sick of reading text. How about another screenshot?
Here you go:

6) When do we get to play???
We're prepping the multiplayer version of Dino D-Day for a release of some sort that will precede release of the commercial version. You will be hearing more about this in the near future.

Once we release the commercial version we hope to continue building the game, adding characters, dinosaurs, maps, game modes, and features. You can think of TF2 as a model for what we plan on doing.

7) The singleplayer mod is broken, are you going to fix it?
Like a lot of other mods, I'm pretty sure Dino D-Day was broken by the latest SDK update. When I get a chance to update the game I'll try and get a patch up for you all. Sorry, been totally focused on the multiplayer.

8) Now that I think about it, you didn't mention the T-Rex or Triceratops as playable dinosaurs? They're already in the singleplayer, what gives?
We've got special plans for big dinosaurs like the T-Rex and Triceratops. More on that later...and by later I mean the commercial release of Dino D-Day. You're gonna love it!

9) I waited months for news on this game, are you going to go silent again now that you've given us an update?
Now that the game is in some kind of state where we can put out some screenshots, gameplay, and so on I'll do more regular updates as we get new stuff in. Keep checking in for new screenshots. A new trailer is on the way too.

I hope that answers most of your questions. You've got my email if you're curious about anything else. We're very excited about this new version of the game and can't wait to share it with the community. Thanks for hanging with us. Here's a final screenshot for you...there's more on the way!

Eh, I'm a single player kind of guy but if you carry through on MP, SP AND Co-OP that'd be awesome... you've got your work cut out for you though, so good luck, the screens look great so I am excite ^_^

"We've found it much better suited to the talents and size of our team at this point in development"

So basically you're ditching SP (for now...) because it's easier to make an MP.

Which is why I prefer SP to MP, everyone can do MP just pitch 2 teams against each other (ignoring the special abilities etc etc) but with SP you actually need to add a storyline and other things to make it interesting to play on your own.

I hope development goes well so you can start working on your SP part of the game. The other game with dino's (http://www.moddb.com/games/primal-carnage) also doesn't have MP, which is why I'm NOT buying it...

Actually, we are working on single player story mode, as well as multiplayer modes. We are releasing Multiplayer mode first, but been working on a story mode which may have to be episodic due to lack of resources. It seems everyone is working on dinosaur games as of late, as I'm a bit shocked to see Dino D-day going the multiplayer route(maybe because we did it first?) who knows, but best of luck none the less.

Hmmm, there are enough multiplayer games imo
which doesn't mean that your game would get bad!
I just think, that a good singleplayer game nowadays creates more attraction then another multiplayergame....just a thought :D

While I'm aware of the team sizes needed to produce something worthwhile for SP, I'm still wondering if this is a smart move, people here seem to prefer it being singleplayer and you have competition from at least 2 other upcoming multiplayer dino games(most known, but farthest away from a release is Primal Carnage, the other is partly kept "secret" so I can't name it) which both are using more up-to-date engines than Source.

I'm wondering if it's really such a great idea to switch over to MP.
Possibly you can drag out a release sooner than them, but once (more) media arrives for those other two, people WILL be comparing Dino D-Day with those. If it's kept singleplayer, you've got your own unique thing going as I don't know of any Singleplayer 3D Nazi Dinosaur action games :P

do you really think you will get such a big fan base that there is multiplayer possible??
lots of big mp mods for source engine( i know you are not a mod) have no players and so the work was done for nothing

Thanks for the feedback everybody. Perhaps I could have phrased it better but don't construe this as abandoning SP. I'm kind of partial to SP stuff myself. The MP is simply a better foundation from which to grow the whole concept of Dino D-Day, which will include SP releases. Hopefully Dino D-Day will accomodate whatever your tastes in dinosaur killing are.

Can't go into it all right now but I hope to demonstrate that your fears are premature. There's more than enough room in Dino D-Day for great multiplayer action and absorbing, story-based adventures!

I can understand why you want to change to Multiplayer, but look at the reactions. I'm not going to complain about how you want to change to Multi because I can see theres no stopping you, but what exactly is happening to Single player? You say that there shall still be releases, but will these be very small, short releases that just go on the idea of killing dinosaurs, or will we see the big nazi- killing SP experience that a whole lot of the fans were looking forward to?

Releasing Dino D-Day with the sort of SP/co-op experience I wanted to create was becoming increasingly difficult within the constraints of this project. Simply because I want the SP adventures to be totally satisfying stories in their own right that have lots of action, great writing, and storytelling. For this reason, we shifted to MP. We can build assets, build worlds, build characters that can all be the building blocks for a great adventure story while also being released to the public in a much more timely fashion.

We switched because I didn't want to toss off a singleplayer that I wasn't particularly proud of and had no hope of competing with triple-A releases. When SP comes its going to be big, exciting, and done right...just be patient people!

"It'll be fun, story-based gameplay that adds depth to the multiplayer characters."

I'm not doubting that the new multiplayer aspect of this mod will be fun, just kind of worried about how depth will be added to multi-player. It is just that most games/mods that try to implement their storyline through the multi-player have their story mostly ignored by the majority of the people who play it. While I don't doubt that the story for multi-player will be entertaining (Camptastic Nazi Dinosaurs = AWESOME), I'm just disappointed in the lack of a dedicated single-player.

But single-player going to sooner or later so what am I bitching about right?

It looks cool, and sounds goofy and fun. I think you guys need to stop raging and wait and see what comes out of this.

Making a multiplayer mod/game is *not* easier than making a single player one, it just takes less raw resources. (something small devs do not have much of). Single player games these days are akin to holy wood movies. Bottomless pits for writing, assets, staged events, etc.

Ignore all the twats saying "I need sp" and "mp is stupid and they're doing it because it's easier". The only thing that worries me about mods that are mp only is that they're be maybe 5 servers, all with pings of over 9000 and super pro people
This looks completely ******* awesome, and a trailer or something to show gameplay/what's going on with the game will blow everyone out of the water (and hopefully fill up some servers)

As much as I like singleplayer games, the atmosphere and concept that you guys already have set out has me hooked either way. Multiplayer games can be just as fun, if not more entertaining, let's not forget.

They're including both a multiplayer and eventually a singleplayer; so there's room for both sides. And besides, what happens when you beat a singleplayer game? Play it through again on a higher difficulty? Psh.

Again, I love SP as much as the next guy, but at least you'll have something fun and exciting to look forward to while you're either waiting for the SP installments, beat all the SP missions, or just want to take a break from singleplayer for a while.

Anywho, great update and awesome-looking new content. Can't wait to see more (and eventually play) in the future. :)

I'm really hoping that a successful multiplayer game will lead to a more successful single-player Dinosaur adventure. I had high hopes for this game - when I think of Nazi Dinosaurs, I think along the same lines as Nazi Zombies.